BLT + Egg Salad

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a classic BLT sandwich. Quick, cheap and delicious. but if you have 6 eggs, mustard and mayonnaise, why not eat like a hungry person and add some egg salad to your BLT? For an even more of a twist, add curry powder to your egg salad for a Bacon Lettuce Tomato and Curried Egg Salad sandwich. I eat mine with curry, my less exotic husband prefers without. Both are delicious!

BLT + Curried Egg Salad Sandwich

Ingredients

Bacon
Tomatoes
Lettuce
6 Eggs
Bread for toasting
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
2 tbs Mustard
1 tbs Curry Powder

Hard Boil 6 eggs, let cool for 4 hours in fridge.
Fry Bacon. While Bacon is frying, cut slices of tomato, shred lettuce. Peel eggs, slice eggs into small pieces, combine in medium bowl. Add Mayonnaise, Mustard, and curry powder. Chill egg salad. Finish cooking bacon. Toast bread and put together in sandwich form. Yum!

Pot Roast

Last night we watched a movie starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro called "Righteous Kill". I am always getting those two confused when I see them on the big screen in separate movies, so watching them together in one movie was quite exasperating. The whole movie was me saying to Gavan, "wait was De Niro the bad guy or is he the nice one?", and "but I thought that THAT was Al Pacino!". Poor Gav. Anyway, while the movie was only so-so in terms of watchability, the pot roast was pretty darned good! And easy too. Here is a simple recipe for pot roast:

Pot Roast

2 - 4 pound chuck roast
14oz can Beef Broth

Prepared Horseradish

4-6 carrots, peeled
4 small potatoes cut in half
4-6 small onions, peeled
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper

Brown the roast on all sides in a dutch oven. After browning, salt and pepper each side of the roast. If desired, rub all sides of the roast with the prepared horseradish (the taste will be very subtle after a few hours of simmering so don't worry about it being to horse-radishy). Pour can of beef broth into dutch oven. Bring to boiling. Once it reaches boiling, cover, turn down heat to let it simmer. Simmer for 1-2 hours depending upon size of roast. I had a 2 pound roast and I let it simmer for about an hour and twenty minutes. For larger roast, let simmer longer, but not more than 2 hours. After 1-2 hours, add potatoes, carrots, and onion to the dutch oven. Leave meat in dutch oven with vegetables. Simmer on low for another hour.

When the hour is up, check to make sure the potatoes are fork-tender. Transfer vegetables and meat to a separate platter - keep warm.

Gravy

Skim any excess fat off the top of the broth. Make sure left over broth measures at least 2 cups, if its less, add enough water to make it 2 cups of liquid. Return to dutch oven, keep simmering. In an airtight container, mix and shake 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup cold water. Stir in flour-water mixture in broth slowly, adding a little at a time. Always stirring, bring gravy to a boil, keep stirring for 1 minute more while the gravy boils.

Serve gravy with pot roast and vegetables (duh).

Chateau Cote Montpezat 2000

Tonight we're having Bordeaux with our pot roast :).

I love trying new wines, and I love to try out wine-pairings especially, because wine and food have a lovely ethereal relationship. Today I visited Wegman's wine cellar with my friend Mari, and picked out a couple different bottles of Bordeaux, one to drink along side the pot roast I am putting together. The pick I decided to try tonight is the Chateau Cote Montpezat 2000, which I bought on sale at Wegmans for $12 and which is listed online at winelibrary.com for $19 - go Wegmans!

Bordeaux in wine terms refers to any bottle of wine grown in the Bordeaux region of France. 80% of wines that come out of Bordeaux are red, and the most planted grape variety is Merlot, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon. The Chateau Cote Montpezat 2000 is grown in the Cote de Castillon appellation and is a mix of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10 % Cabernet Sauvignon. A very full bodied red!

The nose was very subtle at first, though after a few minutes it started to open up and I got a hint of apple, reviewers have said to let it decant for up to an hour but I do not have a decanter nor am I that patient so I popped and poured. Right away it served up smooth velvety oak taste punctured with a hint of pepper, very luscious!

This pick will go great with any hearty red meats like pot roast, steak, lamb and i would even venture to try this with a hearty-non-turkey-chili!

Coffee Crunch Bars

I've decided to put my blog to good use! I cook ALL the TIME. Mostly because its fun for me, and I like to try new things. And its cheaper and safer (sometimes) than climbing a mountain or going skydiving. SO, I've decided that as part of my new years resolution I am going to cook and blog, blog and cook. I've already got an appropriately named blog - the Oven! So, without further ado, here's my first cooking post - Coffee Crunch Bars!

I found this recipe in an issue of Bon Appetite that belonged to my friend Mari. She said she didnt want the magazine (its gold to me!) so I took it home and read it on the train when I was coming from her house on Wednesday night. There was a very strange gentleman(i use this word loosely in this post) who got on the train while I was reading the issue actually. He was young and dressed kind of grungy and kept swinging on the metro bars. I tried to focus on the issue of Bon Appetite rather than meet his eye, as about halfway through the metro ride home I realized that said "gentleman" was either very very drunk or high as a kite on what i dont know. And he was switching something on and off in his pocket which sounded, to me, much like a knife. So anyway, to keep my mind off the swinging gentleman with possible knife directly in front of me (ah DC), I had to find not just a recipe to read, but some sort of story to hold my attention. This is when I discovered the Coffee Crunch Bar article.

I have always loved to cook, but the REASON that I love to cook has alot more to do with people than food. For though I am sure one person could find alot of joy in 48 coffee crunch bars, food is so much better when it is shared among friends and family. Such was the premise of the Coffee Crunch Bar article. The writer and recipe owner, Molly Wizenberg got this recipe from a good friend of hers who came to visit her when she was living in Seattle. Her friend, Leah, got the recipe from her grandmother, Mamie Chaiffetz, who got the recipe from HER father, a baker in the Russian Calvary. Its got some history. The highlight of her friend Leahs stay with her in Seattle was eating a few of these crunchy delights on a hike to Mt. Rainer.

Let us not forget: Food + Activity = Fond Memory

They were relatively easy to make. The only ingredients I did not have on hand were the almond extract and the almonds themselves. Oh, and the espresso powder. My one tip if you should decide to make these is not to loose faith, all that flour really will mix into the dough in the end. Its a really good work out for your upper torso too! I recommend munching on these with a cup of coffee, it brings out more of the almond/espresso flavor. I will be taking some of these over to my some of my own dear friends soon - and perhaps these visits will spark a story of my own, something to remember the next time I decide to make Coffee Crunch Bars. Though I must say, hiking is out of the question - too cold.

Oh, as for that gentleman on the metro, when I finally did exit the train, he was still swinging, and ours eyes met for a brief second as I headed out the doors, and he broke into a sweet but slightly creepy version of Que Sera, Sera.

Its good to be alive!

Coffee Crunch Bars

Makes 48

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups (firmly packed) brown sugar
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Whisk first 3 ingredients in medium bowl to blend.

Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in another medium bowl until blended, about 2 minutes. Add espresso powder and almond extract; beat 1 minute. Stir in flour mixture in 3 additions, mixing until just absorbed after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips and almonds (dough will be thick).

Turn dough out ontoungreased rimmed baking sheet. Using hands, press dough into 12-inch square. Pierce all over with fork at 1-inch intervals.

Bake until edges are lightly browned and beginning to crisp, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on sheet 1 minute. Cut into 48 bars. Immeadeatley transfer to rack; cool (bars will crisp as they cool).

Can be made 5 days ahead and stored at room temperature in an airtight container.